


Bring Them Home

by irishavalon



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Fix-it fic, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Spoilers, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-30
Updated: 2018-04-30
Packaged: 2019-04-30 01:11:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14485515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/irishavalon/pseuds/irishavalon
Summary: ***WARNING: HERE THERE BE SPOILERS FOR INFINITY WAR***A series of small chapters highlighting many of the characters' reunions.





	1. Can't Leave Him Here

Tony hates leaving Peter on that desolate planet. Yes, the kid is gone, nothing but a pile of ash and dust already mingling with the ruddy dirt of the planet. Not that Tony has fully wrapped his head around that fact. 

But he has to get back to Earth. He  _ has  _ to meet back up with his team, to find out who is left. He has to see Steve, it’s time. If Steve is still alive.... But Tony can’t think of that horrible possibility yet. 

So he pulls his injured and exhausted body up and hobbles toward the spaceship that the motley group of aliens brought with them. The blue woman who had appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the fight seems to manifest at his side, walking with him. What had Quill called her? Nebula. She walks with him to the ship, and Tony lets her. When they enter, she shows him how to program their destination into the ship’s coordinates, and doesn’t protest when Tony enters Earth’s coordinates. And then they’re off.

He has a lot of time during the trip to think, and all he can think about is Peter, freaking out like the scared child he always is deep down, clinging to Tony and desperately repeating that he didn’t want to go, and Tony unable to speak a word. All he can see when he blinks is Peter disintegrating before his eyes. And he spends the trip stewing in guilt and grief. 

He and Nebula barely speak to each other, not even when she forces him to lay down on a filthy table and stitches him up. He supposes they are both trapped in the losses they have experienced today. The ship soars through space, making its way to Earth, and Tony both dreads and longs to see the planet at last. 

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

They touch down in Wakanda, after making contact with Bruce when the ship entered Earth’s orbit. A Wakandan guard leads him into the palace without speaking after confirming who he is. Steve is standing in the middle of the first room he enters, and in spite of everything that’s happened between them, Tony almost cries in relief that the Captain is  _ alive _ . 

“Tony.” Steve says quietly, but doesn’t move. Tony doesn’t, either.

“Who did we lose?” Tony asks immediately. Steve chews on his lip and swallows, and then begins to list people in a soft voice, people Tony has never heard of, people he only knows by name, and people he has been fighting beside for years. As the list grows longer, Tony stops listening, Steve’s voice distant in his ears and he fights down the panic that is threatening to bubble to the surface. 

“Tony? Tony.” Steve’s voice is still muffled from the pounding of blood in Tony’s ears. Tony shakes himself and forces himself to look at his one-time friend. 

“What?” Tony says.

“What happened?” Steve asks quietly.

Something breaks in Tony at the words, and he’s reliving the memory of watching Peter Parker fizzle away into nothingness once again.

“I lost the kid.” He whispers.

“The boy from the airport?” Steve asks. “With the spider powers?”

Tony nods, and without thinking, the words start to pour out of his mouth. “I was supposed to protect him. He was my responsibility, and he’s gone. He’s gone.”

“I’m so sorry, Tony.” Steve’s voice is so soft, so kind, and when he reaches out a hand, Tony forgets that he’s supposed to be mad at the man, forgets that they’re no longer friends. He reaches back and finds himself in Steve’s arms as he cries all over again. Steve rubs his back and Tony thinks he’s trying to say comforting things, but Tony can hear Steve crying, too. Before he stopped listening, he’d caught Barnes’ name on the list of those taken by Thanos and the stones. How they’re going to survive this, even just the grief, he has no idea.

At last, they pull away. “I’m sorry,” Steve says again, but Tony knows he’s not being sympathetic this time.

“I’m sorry, too,” Tony replies. “I guess surviving a genocide puts things into perspective.” He says it dryly, without emotion.

“I guess so,” Steve agrees, his voice just as emotionless.

Tony thinks the hardest part of his homecoming has passed, but then Steve leads him and Nebula (who’d stood silently against the wall as the two reunited) into another room. 

A voice he’s never heard before demands sharply, “Where’s Quill?”

He turns his head in search of the source of the voice, and finds a raccoon standing on two legs, looking between him and Nebula with his arms crossed across his chest. 

“What the--?” but he’s cut off by the talking raccoon.

“Shut up. Where the hell is Quill, Nebula?”

Nebula blinks and shakes her head. The raccoon stares at her, mouth opening and closing soundlessly. Tony starts to realize that, impossibly, this anthropomorphic animal must be part of Peter Quill’s team.

When the raccoon seems to regain control of his voice, he asks, “Where’s Drax?”

Nebula and Tony both shake their heads this time. 

“Mantis?” The raccoon’s voice is taking on a higher pitch this time.

Nebula shakes her head again.

“Ga--Gamora?” This time Nebula lets out a gasp like the wind has been knocked out of her. And then she shakes her head a final time.

Tony doesn’t know who this animal is. The raccoon doesn’t start to cry. He doesn’t punch something or yell, which is what Tony would probably have done in his situation. Tony has never met this raccoon in his life, yet he knows he’s watching the world come crashing down around the raccoon. The look on his face tells Tony this two-foot-tall animal has lost everything. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Thor turn away from the scene, and he wonders what all he’s missed. 

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Somehow, they find a way to defeat Thanos and bring everyone back. It’s a Hail Mary of a plan if Tony’s ever heard one, but he doesn’t care. He needs a win so bad it’s tearing him up, and he’ll die trying if he has to. Peter didn’t deserve to die. Nor did Vision or Wanda or Sam. The half of the universe that’s suddenly just not there anymore didn’t deserve to die. 

The plan is developed and executed quickly. It’s a blur to Tony, who is still drowning in guilt and pain the entire time, and he honestly probably couldn’t recount what happened exactly. But suddenly Thanos is on Earth again and then he’s dead and the stones are used to bring back the dead. 

The instant Bucky Barnes appears in the clearing where the final battle took place, Tony takes off running for the Milano, still parked near the border of Wakanda. Behind him, a joyous cry from the talking raccoon-- whose name he now knows is Rocket-- tells him that the raccoon’s tree-man friend that Thor told him about has reappeared. But he doesn’t turn to witness the reunion; he has to get to the ship, has to get to Titan because Peter is going to wake up alone and without him and he hates himself for ever leaving the boy---

“Stark, wait!” Thor cries behind him, in such a commanding voice that Tony skids to a halt. He turns around, furious that Thor has made him stop. Every moment he’s still here is another moment the kid has to spend in space on his own. Tony has a responsibility to keep. 

“Peter,” Tony pants desperately. “If he’s back, he’s on Titan. I have to go get him.”

“Slow your roll, Iron-Moron,” Rocket says. Beside him stands the strangest thing Tony has ever seen: a five-foot tall tree thing. “First of all, the Milano is  _ my _ ship, and like hell am I gonna let you on it without me,” Rocket continues. “And second of all, my fr-- my  _ family _ is on that planet, too, so obviously I’m coming with you.” 

“I am Groot,” the tree-thing nods in what seems to be agreement. 

“I’m coming, too.” Nebula steps toward Tony, and the three turn to look at her. “If Gamora’s--” her voice breaks on the name, and she has to stop for a moment before trying again. “If my sister is alive, Titan is the first place she’ll go.”

“Fine,” Tony agrees. “But can we get going already?”

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Tony spends the trip trying to come up with a way to reunite with Peter that won’t show the boy just how badly he has grieved. But when the ship lands on the barren ground and the doors open, Tony has to abandon every idea, because he’s the first one on the planet and he’s screaming Peter’s name like his life depends on it. Maybe it does. 

“Mr. Stark!” And then he’s there, alive and whole and happy, and Tony can’t help but reach out and pull the teenager into a tight hug. Peter returns the embrace.

“For the love of God, kid,” Tony says, “you just died in my arms; call me by my first name.” But it’s all he can manage, because he’s crying again, and he’s trying not to let the kid notice but he knows Peter does. Pete clings to him, and it almost feels like the end all over again, but the boy’s breathing is calm and he’s alive, so alive. Tony clutches back, ignoring the other reunion happening beside them, even when a small ship touches down beside the Milano and a green woman he’s never seen before steps out.

Nothing else matters right now. His kid is alive and Tony’s going to bring him home.


	2. Family

Tony is the first one off the Milano, but Groot, Rocket, and Nebula are just behind him. The Avenger is shrieking like the kid is actually his son, but all Rocket gives a shit about is his stupid, little family he almost lost forever: his weird, bug-like sister; his massive brother who doesn’t understand sarcasm; his fierce asshole of a sister; even his dumbass, over-dramatic human brother. Not that he’d ever admit to Quill (if he lives) that he missed the idiot. 

He squints, scanning what he can see of the planet for the others. Beside him, Nebula and Groot look, too. He hears the joyous reunion of the boy and Tony, both humans slamming into each other like their lives depend on it. 

“I am Groot!” Groot yells, getting his attention and pointing to their left where three figures are walking towards them. 

“Oh, thank the Cosmos,” Rocket mutters. Drax calls out to them, waving his hands. Mantis joins him, laughing happily at the sight of Rocket and Groot. Quill looks both relieved and sad. Of course, their family isn’t whole yet. Rocket hopes with everything he has that Gamora will come. 

Drax slaps Groot’s back hard and grins at them. “I am Groot,” Groot says to him, and Drax laughs. 

Quill smiles at Groot, and it’s not completely forced. Then he looks down at Rocket. “Glad to see you again,  _ captain _ ,” he finishes sarcastically, and something in Rocket snaps. The last conversation he’d had with Quill had been an argument. Again. He doubts next time one of them almost dies will be any different, but the realization still hurts.

“Peter Quill, if you ever turn to ash again, I will kill you.” he threatens. Peter’s eyebrows raise for a moment in surprise, and then he smiles.

“Love you too, bro,” Peter says, and kneels down so he can hug Rocket. Rocket lets him, even hugs him back for a moment. 

“If you ever hug me again I will bite your ear off,” Rocket grumbles. Quill laughs and pulls away. He looks over at the others. 

“Hey, Groot,” Quill says.

“I am Groot,” Groot replies, reaching over to pat Quill on the shoulder.

Suddenly, Nebula growls, “Gamora!” and takes off running. Quill follows her with his eyes immediately, as do the others. Rocket sees another ship, smaller than the Milano, land on the planet beside theirs. The hatch opens and Gamora steps out. 

“Oh, my God,” Quill says quietly, his voice shaking, and sprints after Nebula. Groot, Mantis, Drax, and Rocket share a look before turning as one to follow the other two. 

Nebula clings to her sister when the rest of the Guardians reach the pod. Gamora hugs her tightly back, but when she looks up at the others, she gasps out, “Peter!” Gamora squeezes Nebula one more time, and then Nebula moves away.

“Gamora!” Peter closes the remaining distance and Gamora falls into his arms. He cradles her face in his hands and bursts into tears. 

“I’m all right, I’m here,” Gamora whispers, tears in her eyes. She reaches out to wipe the tears streaming down Peter’s face. 

“You were dead. He told me you were dead.” Peter gasps. “I couldn’t get to you in time.”

“I’m here, Peter, I’m here.” 

Peter presses his lips to Gamora’s. Rocket makes a small noise of disgust to cover up the fact that he’s starting to tear up, too. Peter and Gamora ignore him for once, save for the twin smiles their lips curve into without parting. 

Rocket would kill anyone who suggests such a ludicrous thing, but he’s so, so happy to have his family back. He reaches up a paw to quickly scrub away the tears in his eyes.


	3. Can't Believe It

When Bucky Barnes comes back to consciousness, he sees three things happen at once. The first--and most important, by Bucky’s standards-- is that Steve comes sprinting towards him out of nowhere. The second is that Tony Stark tears off in the other direction for some reason. And third, Sam Wilson appears seconds later on his right.

“You all right, Falc?” is all Bucky can say before Steve Rogers slams into both him and Sam, and throws his arms around them. 

“Yeah, you?” Sam gasps; Steve is squeezing them both so tight that Bucky finds it hard to believe this strong guy is the same shrimpy, asthmatic kid from Brooklyn. “Jesus, Cap, don’t kill us again.”

“Steve, we’re fine,” Bucky says, trying to comfort his best friend, but he can’t help squeezing back and pressing his cheek against Steve’s. 

Steve pulls away to glare at Bucky. The look is softened quite a bit by the tears streaming down Steve’s face. “I have watched you die in front of me  _ twice _ , Bucky Barnes,” he snarls. “So don’t you dare give me ‘we’re fine’.” He looks at Sam and then back at Bucky. “I lost my two best friends. I have every right to be a fucking mess.”

Bucky cups Steve’s cheek and gazes at him fondly. “You’re right, Stevie. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, either.” Steve says. Sam rolls his eyes and walks away to hug Natasha.

Bucky lifts both hands in the air. “Then what do you want from me, Rogers?”

“I want you to kiss me so I stop telling myself this is all a dream.” Steve replies immediately. His eyes widen. “I mean, if you want…”

Bucky stares at Steve, scarcely believing his ears. He has wanted to kiss Steve since they were kids, since he left behind the scrawny stubborn ass when the war started, since the day he opened blackened eyes and saw Steve rescuing him, since the fall, watching Steve disappear from view as the train sped on and he tumbled down, down, down. He’s wanted to kiss Steve since he started remembering over the programming of the Winter Soldier, since Steve found him in Budapest, since he made the decision to go under again, since he first saw him again when his plane landed in Wakanda. 

He wants to tell him all of this, but he can’t find the words. Instead, he cups Steve’s face again and leans in close. “Steve Rogers, I have wanted to kiss you for as long as I can remember, and probably before that, too.” And then he pulls Captain America into a kiss. Steve kisses back desperately, wrapping one arm tight around Bucky’s waist and threading the fingers of his other hand through Bucky’s long hair. 

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Steve does not let Bucky go for the rest of the afternoon. The group returns tiredly to the palace once everyone comes back. They sit beside Nat and Sam on a sofa in one of the rooms, Steve’s arm around Bucky’s shoulders and Bucky’s arm draped across Steve’s torso. Steve talks to the others, listens to the conversation when he has nothing to contribute, but has to keep looking back at Bucky. He’s still trying to convince himself that Bucky is alive, despite the kiss. 

As the sun sets and afternoon shifts into night, Steve finds himself speaking less and staring at Bucky more. He’s not tired, but when Bucky suggests they go to bed, he agrees readily. T’Challa calls for someone to show them to a bedroom, and Sam calls them a couple of old men. Steve gives him the bird, but doesn’t really care. He’s missed Sam so much, too.

They reach the bedroom and the servant leaves. The moment the door is shut, Steve presses Bucky against it and kisses him hard. Bucky responds in kind, and then they are kissing each other everywhere, pressing needy lips to jawbones, throats, shoulders. Steve mumbles into Bucky’s skin every time he comes up for air, mostly I-love-you’s that Bucky gasps back. They kick off shoes and pants and kiss their way to the bed, where they lie under the sheets and pull each other close and kiss some more. It’s been so long since they’ve held each other, laid hands on each other more than that brief hug at the beginning of this whole fight. 

When they have kissed their fill for now, Steve pulls Bucky close and they just lie together, bodies touching forehead to toes. “Will you come home with me tomorrow?” Steve asks quietly. “You seem to like Wakanda, but….”

“I have spent seventy years away from you. Do you think I would be apart from you a minute longer than I have to?” Bucky interrupts. He runs a hand through Steve’s hair. “I belong at your side, just as you belong at mine.”


	4. I'll Follow You

Thor watches his friends, in various levels of exhaustion, spend a final, quiet evening in the palace in Wakanda. Rogers and Barnes retired to bed about half an hour ago (Sam calling them senior citizens as they left the room). Sam and Natasha are stubbornly holding out, dozing back to back on a long sofa. Vision and Wanda speak quietly in a corner, bodies touching and curled toward each other. They look as though they will never let each other go. 

On the other side of the room, T’Challa and Shuri laugh softly. T’Challa seems to be teasing his sister.

“Go to bed,” he whispers. 

Shuri laughs. “No.”

“Go to bed.”

“No. You’re not in charge of me.”

“I’m your king.”

“Not too late to challenge that.”

“It’s very late. You’ve had a long day. Go to bed.”

Shuri is quiet for a moment. Thor tries not to look like he is eavesdropping as he continues to listen. He assumes she will tell her brother no again, or tease him back. Instead, her voice gets even quieter, though Thor can still hear her.

“Brother, six hours ago you were dead. Two months before that I thought you were dead. I am not going to bed until I can believe you will not disappear again.”

T’Challa doesn’t respond, seemingly taken aback. Thor stops listening immediately; the conversation has taken a more private turn, and he feels the lump in his throat rise. It has been lurking there since he watched Thanos drop Loki’s lifeless body in front of him, and it becomes more persistent now.

He knows that Loki probably won’t be back. Even if he somehow survived being suffocated by the mad titan, their ship had then blown up. Even if the stones could bring him back, Loki would be returned to the site of his death, now an empty and lifeless bit of space that Thor doubts he could find again. Even if Loki lived floating on his own in space without food or shelter, the odds of Thor’s brother coming to find him are so slim it is almost nothing. 

He thinks he’ll go to bed now, too. He doesn’t need to sleep, but he cannot watch these happy if slightly bittersweet reunions anymore. He’s happy for his friends being reunited with their loved ones, and happy to see some of his own friends alive and well again. But the ache in his chest for his own happy reunion he doubts will come is too much for him to stand for another minute. He’s lost everything in little more than a week, and he won’t get any of it back. 

He stands to take his leave when Romanoff’s phone rings, startling everyone in the room, including the fearless god turning toward the door. Nat jerks awake, and Sam wakes up in time to lose his balance and almost fall off the couch. 

“Fury,” Nat says into the phone, and Thor stops. Maybe he needs to stay to help Nat give a mission report. “What? ...Wait, what?” she looks up at Thor, and Thor frowns at her. “Yeah, hold on, I’ll let him know.” She covers the speaker of her phone with her hand and addresses Thor. “SHIELD picked up on a radio signal from a craft in our orbit. The passengers are asking about an ‘Ark,’ or something, filled with Asgardians. Would you know anything about that?” 

Thor gapes at her. “What else are they saying?” He asks, not daring to hope.

Nat repeats the question into the receiver and waits a moment. “There’s an Asgardian woman, a Kronan, and a Sakaarian according to the transmission.”

Thor laughs out loud. It’s not Loki, but Korg, Miek, and the Valkyrie are alive and have somehow survived long enough in the Commodore to make it to Earth without killing each other. They’d only been gone on a supply run when Thanos descended upon the ship.

“What?” Thor turns to see Bruce sitting up quickly. The doctor had been dozing off on another sofa in the room, but seems to have been listening. Bruce looks at him and points to Nat and her phone. “Does this mean what I think it means?”

Thor grins at him. “Brunnhilde is alive,” he says, and laughs again. He looks back at Nat. “Tell Fury to send them the coordinates to--” He looks over at T’Challa, who also appears to be listening. “Permission to land another ship in your borders, your Majesty?”

“These are friends of yours?” he asks, and when Thor nods, he agrees. Nat repeats the information to Fury and waits. 

“They’ll be landing soon,” she tells Thor when she hangs up. T’Challa calls for a servant to light up the landing pad for the travelers and then leads Thor and Bruce outside. 

The minutes feel like days as Thor waits, bouncing on the balls of his feet in nervous energy. And then finally the Commodore comes into view beneath the clouds. If someone had told Thor even a year ago that he would be overjoyed to see the orgy ship of a sadistic Elder, he’d have told the person to put down the mead. But as the ship descends and he half-listens to Bruce chatter nervously at his side, he can’t imagine when he’s felt more relieved. 

The Valkyrie steps out first, smirking at her boys. Before she can react, Bruce descends upon her and hugs her tight. She hugs back, looking mildly surprised. She looks back at Thor. “You’ve been through hell, haven’t you, Lord of Thunder?” she asks. “Where did you get that eye?” 

Her voice is the most welcome thing he’s heard in days.  _ Oh, fuck it, _ he thinks, and pulls both Brunnhilde and Bruce into a hug of his own. Three-quarters of the Revengers is pretty good, all things considered. And then Korg and Miek are out of the ship and joining in the hug after a  _ Hey, Thor _ from Korg. 

“Very touching,” a sardonic voice comments, and Thor pulls away from the embrace with a noise that is decidedly  _ not _ the beginning of a sob. Loki steps down gracefully from the ship, a slightly hesitant smile on his face. He looks at Thor, and Thor just drinks him in. He’d been saved, after all. And he’s here and so close to Thor and Thor can hardly believe it. 

“You’re alive,” Thor finally says when he finds his voice again.

“Did I not tell you the sun would shine on us again, brother? Did you doubt me?”

“You’re here,” Thor says in disbelief, not bothering to answer Loki’s questions.

Loki watches him in silence for a moment, and then his smile widens. “I’m here,” he confirms quietly, and Thor doesn’t think he’s ever loved his brother more. 

“On Earth.”

Loki looks around, as if taking in his surroundings for the first time. “Yes, I think I am. You really are stupid, aren’t you?”

“You didn’t want to come here.” Thor says, mentally cursing himself. All he wants to do is touch Loki, make sure he really is here, that he really is alive. But he needs this first, needs this confirmation of everything he’s suspected since Loki arrived on Asgard with the Sakaarian ship.

Loki seems to deflate at that. “You  _ did _ doubt me.”

_ Oh shit _ , Thor can’t take the distance anymore. Loki has been dead, he thought Loki was dead, and it ripped his heart out. He almost killed himself harnessing the power of a dying star, fought thousands of beings, drove an axe into a titan’s heart, all for want of Loki. And now he’s here, actually here, and all Thor can do is stand here like an idiot and gape at his beloved brother like a fish. He wants to wrap his arms around Loki and squeeze him till he turns blue and calls him an oaf. He wants to touch every part of Loki he can reach to make sure his hands won’t pass through. 

“I’ve been trying to tell you since Ragnarok--” Loki forces out, and because it looks like he’s going for sentiment-- a very difficult thing for Loki-- Thor takes pity on him and interrupts.

“Oh come here, you terrible brother,” Thor says, and hears his voice dripping with pride and love, so much that Loki won’t miss the affection.

Loki obeys, for once, and goes to Thor, who wraps his arms tightly around Loki. Loki is still in Thor’s arms for only a moment, and then he’s hugging back, burying his face in Thor’s shoulder. “Norns, I was sure he killed you,” Loki admits quietly, his voice cracking just slightly.

“You’ve been trying to kill me since we were kids,” Thor tries, but Loki doesn’t seem to want to joke about it.

“Don’t,” he says. He presses closer, and Thor feels more than hears him swallow. “Gods, I’m sorry. I’m sorry about the tesseract.” 

“I forgave you for that awhile ago. What were you saying just now? About Ragnarok?” Thor asks.

Loki is quiet for a moment, hesitant. “Oh, just that I’ve decided I’m going to follow you wherever you go. So deal with it.” Loki keeps his voice casual, but Thor can’t help smiling against Loki’s shoulder.

Thor’s heart aches, but it’s such a better ache than before. He knows what this statement, just like when Loki’d called himself Odinson on the ship, means. They both mean ‘I love you,’ and Thor can’t stop the grin from widening.

“I missed you,” Thor admits. “That’s the last time you’re dying on me, do you hear? That’s it, you’re finished. I cannot watch it happen again.”

Loki doesn’t answer right away. Thor wonders if the brief streak of honesty in Loki has passed, and waits for the sarcastic, nasty response he’s sure Loki is composing. 

Instead, Loki says, “I will not be parted from you again. Of that, you have my word.”


End file.
